Composition for artificial building material, trimmings, &amp;c.



E.J.GUAY COMPOSITION FOR ARTIFICIAL BUILDING MATERIAL, TRIMMlNGS, 6L0.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6,1911.

I Patented June 27, 1916.

Witnesses.- M NWT/e 5M a/Mj anti @FJFJIQE.

EMILE J. GUAY, OF SWAMPSCOTT, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL CERAMIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

COMPOSITION FOR ARTIFICIAL BUILDING MATERIAL, TRIMMINGS, 8w.

.T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EMILE J. GUAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Swampscott, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Composition for Artificial Building Material, Trimmings, &c.

This material is especially applicable to the manufacture of poles for telegraph, telephone and street lighting purposes, etc, which shall be durable, against the ravages of weather and other injurious effects to which wooden poles are subjected, and also to provide a process which enables this composition to be commerci lly handled to ad vantage.

Figure 1 represents a car of sand lime blocks in the steaming or indurating chamber during that part of the process in which the blocks of my invention are being hardened or indurated. Fig. 2 represents a car uponwhich is mounted a block of building material, one-half of which block 1s made by the protected process and the other half by the unprotected process.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, 1 represents a suitable steam chamber into which is led a pipe 2, for conveying steam under suitable pressure. say 150 pounds to the square inch into said chamber, and at a temperature corresponding to this pressure of about 360 degrees F. 3, 3, represent suitable angle irons or rails upon which angle irons or rails in the chamber 1, is mounted a car 4, supported by the wheels 5, the latter in turn being suitably mounted in supports or bearings depending from the bottom of the car 4. 6 6, etc., represent 1n dotted lines blocks of my improved material mounted upon the car 4:, these blocks bein covered with sand or other inert material in such manner as to be protected from the direct action of the steam. The right hand end of the car, however, is shown in section in order to illustrate more clearly the exact arrangement of the blocks and to remove the obscurity of theiview caused by the sand.

8 8 represent sides composed of metal or other suitable material which merely serve as retaining walls for the blocks and sand.

Referring now more'particularly to Fig. 2, upon the car a, is mounted a large block of building material 9, the left hand half of which is protected by a covering of sand 7 The right hand portion 10, of the block is Specification of Letters Patent; P t t Jung 27, 11 1s,

Application filed May 6, 1911. Serial No. 625,454.

unprotected and being made of the same fineness of division of mixture and in exactly the same manner all through the process with the exception that it is not covered with sand during the-induration, it will be found to disclose various smallcracks such as illustrated at 11, 12, 13,14, etc., and to disclose the general characterifiics of a poor piece of building material.

My invention consists in making blocks of 'a mixture of silica and hydrated lime in the following proportions: silica 85% to 95%, hydrated lime 5% to 15%, the'preferable mixture, however, being silica 88% to 90%, hydrated lime 10% to 12%, the effective binder, hydrous silicate of lime, resulting from this mixture being uniformly distributed throughout the mass. A- certain percentage of sand and lime in the mixture chemically unite, and this chemical combination results in the production of hydrous silicate of lime which forms a binder for the remaining portion of sand and lime, which is not chemically combined. In other words, part of the original mass of sand and lime becomes ohemlcally united, while any portion which is not so chemically united becomes bound together by the chemically united portions. In. the manufacture of poles, window trimmings, etc., especially, it is preferable to havethe material mixed wet in order that it may be satisfactorily handled and worked or tamped in the mold. The difliculty about mixing it wet, however, is that the composition cannotbe indurated that way, as in the absence of a protecting blanket, the indurating fluid has a too rapid and direct action (apparently a chemical action) on the surface of the block, causing said surface to warp, crack, or otherwise be distorted. Therefore, it has been found that, to avoid this difliculty, by

embedding the block in an inert or porous tection for the block prevents the outsidecal action and expansion to more confined limits resulting in the warping, cracking and distortion of the block. This process,

therefore, results in a better finished product, as the more water that can be introduced into the mixture without causing the cracking referred to the better and stronger will be the artificial composition produced,

" the proportion of the crushing strength thus attained depending upon the, amount of water which can be satisfactorily assimilated; and it has been found that from 15% to 18% Water can be thus assimilated in the protected block as against 7% or 8% in the case of an unprotected block of a given initial cubical capacity.

When the mixture of sand and lime is taken from themixer a considerableamount of water is added thereto (or an excess of water may be added during the mixing operation) whence the material is placed in a mold and subjected in a press to a pressure of from 2000 to 3000 lbs. per square inch;% or in the forming of large blocks or pieces the block may be formed in an ordinary mold and tamped therein. The blocks are subsequently placed on a metal floor on a fiat car or on a floor coated with sand, said blocks being laid up in a fashion somewhat like a pyramidal pile in receding layers. They are then covered with sand until they are completely buried init and in such manner that the sand can get into all the interstices or spaces between the blocks (the blocks in this case usually being bricks in the stage of manufacturing prior to the hardening or indurating process) or a retainer may be formed as previously referred to, by protecting the sides of the pile by abutting side pieces of metal. The car is then wheeled on a track into a long oven into which steam is led and maintained at about 150 lbs. pressure to the square inch. The door of the oven is then closed or sealed. When the bricks are taken out of this oven after remaining therein subject to the action of the steam as above-mentioned for from seven to twenty hou rs, varying in accordance with the size of the piece or pieces being indurated, the finished product is foimd by test to withstand a crushing stress of about 10,000 lbs, pressure to the square inch, whereasthe best product which applicant has been enabled to obtain by open baked methods will withstand a compression stress of only about 3000 lbs. to the square inch. In the latter methods it 'is not possible to assimilate enough water, because when the bricks are indurated in the open, or unprotected from the direct action of the steam the result is a greater amount of uncombined hydrated lime in the finished product.

sure of press and a given percentage of water that the product will crack when made by the unprotected process, but that with the same pressure and same percentage of Water a brick made by the protected process will not crack. The degree of wetness varies with the fineness of grain of the materials; if one starts with 7% free water the brick will crack upon addition of 3% more unless it is protected during induration, as hereinafter described.

When the mixture containing a comparatively large amount of Water, and molded into the form or shape of the finished article, -is indurated in a manner to protect it from the indurating fluid as heretofore described, it' is found that the resultant product is from seven to ten per cent. heavier than when a similar mixture is molded and indurated in an unprotected block. Appli-. cant believes that what takes place is that when the mixture containing a comparatively large amount. of water is used in the manufacture of artificial building materials the chemical action between the lime and the sand is greatly enhanced, resulting, of course, in the formation of a much larger percentage of the hydrous silicate of lime,

which is generally considered as the binder in such matters. There is,'therefore, left less uncombined hydrated lime which acts only as a poor filler occupying space which is more desirably filled by the hydrous compound or by silica.

Several very important incidents of the treatment described result from the equable application of the heat furnished by the steam, as it enforces a slow, gradual and uniform distribution of heat throughout the body treated; therefore the grains of the compound are not suddenly torn apartto accommodate the absorption and assimilation of more water, but the process takes place slowlyand gradually similar to the growth of a crystal with an analogous increase of strength in its structure; similarly the body after treatment can only slowly cool and something akin to the annealing of a metal takes place toughening itand preventing fissures.

Therefore no seams, cracks or weakened lines are found in the indurated product. Another very important incident is that the steam being mixing cannot evaporate and under the slow Y heating the calcium silicate formed-gradually builds up in the pores and around the grains somewhat after the manner nature follows in forming crystalline structures so that the grains are welded in all directions by a rocky bond of enormous strength. The anneallng action and the prevention of loss of water I consider the distinguishing features of my process. It takes place only at a crltical temperature range, since if steam at 200 lbs. be applied the product will be Weak and not in the same class with the product made under the conditions herein described. The conditions described seem to limit the ingress of heat and moisture to the molded product in the best way to insure a product of maximum strength free from cracks, and therefore the most desirable for use in industrial arts.

Another Way this may be put is that by the assimilation of more water the small particles of binding material are allowed to flow more freely and thus find entrance into whatever interstices may exist, thus more thoroughly impregnating the product with the binding material. Another thing, on account of this more complete assimilation of water during the process of manufacture, after the brick is finished and hardened it will hate a low ailinity for extraneous water or moisture, and will, therefore, be more frost-proof, increasing in Weight not more than l% after setting in Water for more than 10 hours, whereas in the case of the best products known to applicant resulting from processes practised by other than his invention the increase inweight by similar test is in the neighborhood of, or more than, twice this precentage. When seven or eight per cent. of lime is used in the protected block process the product is found to have twice or three times the compression strength of that of the unprotected block process using the same percentage of lime.

It is therefore evident from the foregoing that T have developed a process which is novel, simple, effective, and one which enables the mixture to assimilate more water, thereby adding materially to the density, homogeneity, compression and tens le strengths and general improved characterlstics of sand-lime bricks or products.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

ing a Wet mixture of silica and hydrated lime in substantially the proportions of silica 85% to and hydrated lime5% to 15%, forming said mixture under pressure into an article of the desired shape, enveloping said article completely in suitable material in such manner" as to protect it from the direct action of steam during the indurating process, and finally hardening or indurating the article by subjecting it to the action of steam under pressure of approximately 150 pounds.

3 The process of manufacturing the compos1t1on herein described consisting of making a wet mixture of silica 85% to 95% and hydrated lime 5% to 15%, molding said mixture under pressure into a block of the desired form, placing said; block in a retainer, protecting all exposedsnrfaces of the block from the direct actiorrof steam during the indurating prt cess by completely covering them with inert material permitting lime compound-consisting in making a Wet a temperature corresponding to a pressurev mixture of sand and hydrated lime with the sand in large excess, molding the mixture,

heating it under steam at 150 pounds pressure, protecting the molded article with a covering adapted to retard the ingress of heat and rendering it equable throughout the mass and insuring access of steam uniformly over the entire mass.

5. The process of manufacturing a sandlime compositionconsisting of making a wet mixture of silica and lime in substantially the proportions of silica 85% to 95% and lime 5% to 15%, molding said mixture under pressure into blocks of the desired form, protecting all exposed surfaces of the block completely from the direct action of the steam during the indurating process for a the'purpose of assimilating themaximum amount of water which can be assimilated within such protected block, and finally-indurating the block by the action of steam at of 150 pounds and upward.

6. The process of manufacturing a sand lime composition of great density and compression strength, consisting in making a wet mixture of silica and lime of the preferable proportions of silica 88 to 90 per cent. and hydrated lime 10 to 12 per cent., molding it into bricks of the desired form, protecting the surfaces completely from the subsequent indurating agent, and indurating by action of steam under a pressure of approximately 150 pounds applied outside the protecting medium in an indurating oven, and slowly heating them while preventing loss of Water.

7. The process of manufacturing artificial stone consisting of making a wet mixture of silica and lime in substantially the proportions of silica 88% to 90% and hydrated lime 10% to 12%, molding bricks of the mixture under pressure, protecting the bricks from the direct action of the steam during the induratin process, and finally indurating the bricks in an indurating oven in which steam is confined under a pressure of approximately 150 pounds.

8. The process of manufacturing composition for building materials which consists in mixing materials capable of chemically combining in a moist state and under heat and pressure, making a Wet mixture of the said materials, moldin the materials into 7 the desired form, comp etely embeddingthe molded article in a porous heat retarding material, and subjecting the molded product to a heated fluid and under a pressure of at least 150 pounds and upward acting on its entire surface through said porous material.

9. The process of manufacturing artificial building material consisting-in mixing sand and lime with a large excess of water, exposing to slowly acting moist heat, while preventing loss of water by evaporation and 1 thereby slowly indurating the mixture by cementing its particles into a solid mass of fine texture.

a 10. The process of manufacturing composition -for building materials capable of chemically combining in a moist state and under heat and pressure, which consists in making a mixture of said materials in suitable proportions and with an excess of Water amounting to wetness, moldin the mixture into the desired shape, protectlng the molded article from the direct action of steam under pressure used as an indurating fluid by interposing a body of inert porous ma- 

